raindrops on roses

For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love that we call a dog.

Roger Caras

Since my last post there have been some exciting developments in the Weir household!  My husband used his beautiful new grill for the first time.  Doesn't he look manly?  I have been forbidden from getting close to or hovering while he is grilling...

I guess I did get pretty close taking this picture, but don't those burgers look yummy!  I put together some taco burgers, one of our favorites, in honor of the first use of the grill.  They were delicious, thanks hubby!


I had the honor of being asked to be my little sister Cassie's confirmation sponsor.  We have been doing lots of service and reflection together and this past Thursday was her Confirmation.
I was so proud of her as I stood by her side and witnessed her becoming an adult in the Church.

Several of her classmates were confirmants as well.  They dressed to the nines for the event.

The archbishop gave an excellent and compelling homily and was quite a hoot during the pictures afterwards.  Cassie looks beautiful and filled with the Holy Spirit.  For some reason my dress is hanging quite strangely in this picture, but no matter, it was certainly Cassie's day.

There were 73 other candidates who were confirmed alongside Cassie.  They were a great group!  Aaron was inspired by the Mass and by the observing he has been doing throughout our relationship.  He had a nice conversation with Grandmama before the Mass and discovered that she was not born into the Catholic faith, but converted while in nursing school.  He announced his decision to join the Catholic Church that evening when we got home and everyone, including my parents and grandparents, was overjoyed at the news.  I am particularly excited to share in the experiences of RCIA with him and to truly connect with him in a spiritual way.  I am so proud of him and that his decision was well thought out and was made on his own.  The announcement came as a surprise even to me!


This weekend we met the newest member of the Weir family: Brutus!

Brutus is the sweetest little pup.  He is a full-bred brindle Boxer.  He will be 8 weeks old when we bring him home May 16th!

He certainly knew who had to be won over.  He cuddled with me immediately.  He seemed to know I was going to be his puppy-momma!

The sweetest face EVER!  In the above picture he is basically saying "Put me down!  I want to play!"

And play he did.  We took him, and some of his brothers and sisters, outside to play in the yard. Aaron had a blast getting to know his little boy and watching him pounce around the yard.  He is not quite as steady on his feet as he thinks and he plopped down a few times.  It was adorable.

Then we went inside and he was getting tuckered out.

Or so we thought...until he showed us his climbing skills under the coffee table.  The breeders were delightful.  Very loving and they have even started calling him by his name.  They even had an adult male boxer, Bear, who was quite the lap dog.  He was very sweet and one of the main reasons I fell in love with Brutus.  Seeing what he will look like when he grows up, for the most part, really got me excited to bring the little guy home.

I will definitely feel sad taking him away from his brothers and sisters, and his mommy, but I know that Aaron and I will be great puppy parents.  He will have aunts and an uncle to play with too.  I am sure the first few nights will be the hardest, but as soon as he is potty trained and trustworthy he will be sleeping up in our room with us every night...on the floor that is:)

The day before Mother's Day, Jan, Jill, Jordan, Taia and Riley came over to see our new home.  They loved the playgrounds, the lake, and even watched "Tangled" for a bit.

They wanted to take some silly pictures.

Jill and Jordan were cuddling and posed for quite the Mother's Day photo.

Jordan was very excited about our new puppy and played with her pretend puppy the whole time she was over.  She even put him to bed in Brutus' crate before going home.  She was very sweet and told Aaron and I that we had to be quiet because the puppy was sleeping.  It may be the other way around in a week when it's time to go to bed.

Today we had a lovely brunch at the Columns, also the place where Aaron and I had our wedding reception, for Mother's Day.  It was delicious and a family event to be sure.  We had lots of love for our mommies and grandmommy!

So now we wait for May 16th.  We are so excited and couldn't help ourselves, but go out and get our puppy supplies this afternoon.  


His water and food bowls are out.

His bed is in the living room and stocked with fun (and safe) toys.

His crate is clean and cozy.

And we even have his puppy tag ready for when we pick him up.

Oh, and let's not forget the puppy treats! (Or the chew deterrent spray either)

We are so excited.  I can hardly study for my exams and Aaron is dying for this weekend's road show at Costco to be over.  Brutus you are loved and already a very spoiled boy.  We cannot wait to bring you home and give you all the love we have to give.  I am even going to start making some yummy natural homemade doggy treats.  See you very soon little boy!

partying with the pups

I talk to him when I'm lonesome like; and I'm sure he understands.  When he looks at me so attentively, and gently licks my hands; then he rubs his nose on my tailored clothes, but I never say naught thereat.  For the good Lord knows I can buy more clothes, but never a friend like that.  

~W. Dayton Wedgefarth

Wishing my sweet Penny a very Happy 10th Birthday!  She brings so much joy to my life and many others.  She is my sweetheart.  I love you sweet girl:)

settling into our new nest

Every house where love abides

And friendship is a guest,

Is surely home, and home sweet home

For there the heart can rest.

~Henry Van Dyke

The lovebirds have settled into a new nest:)  We are so grateful, lucky, and excited for our wonderful new townhome in New Town St. Charles.  When I gushed over moving back to my hometown in the beginning of my blog, I would never have guessed I could live in such a beautiful place here in St. Charles.  We love it!  And not only that, we are so grateful to everyone who pitched in to help us move; including my Momma and Daddy, Opa (who found us a pickup truck to use when we moved our bed), the Kulmas (who allowed us to borrow their truck) and Aaron's brother Josh.  We are so lucky to have so many wonderful family members and friends.

Speaking of friends, we had a wonderful time at Aaron's friend's Eric's house the weekend before we moved.  We had the pleasure of congratulating the happy couple on their newly announced engagement.  Congrats Eric and Ashleigh!  We are excited and honored to be throwing an engagement party for all our friends in our new home within the next month or so.

The night was filled with beer and good conversation.  The boys ordered a HUGE pizza to feed all the hungry guests.  The pizza is literally the largest delivered pizza.  It was crazy big, crazy good, and went crazy fast.  Definitely a good idea to order a great big pizza when you are feeding hungry boys.  After the pizza we went to a nearby bar and sang some karaoke.  I sang some "Little Mermaid" with the help of every gal in the bar.  We had so much fun!

My sweet sister played a bossy elderly lady in her school play that weekend and Aaron and I were not disappointed by her fabulous performance.  She played the part perfectly, perhaps that was due to the fact that she is familiar with playing such a character.

Amidst the commotion of moving we celebrated Easter!  We were super excited and happy to see everyone and share our excitement in our new home with them.  Everyone was there, we were very lucky to have everyone home for Easter, and I loved getting to visit with all my wonderful cousins, aunts, uncles, and everybody.

Momma and Grandmama matched!

Dr. Schneider (Opa) and T.J. (Uncle Tommy) were having some intense medical discussions.  Keep in mind that "medical discussions" is a loose term and can refer to anything centering around the hospital or the golf course.

Sweet little Rachel and Ally were having some fun bonding time with Cassie.  They even got to have an inside Easter egg hunt.  Grandpa did a great job hiding the eggs and they did an even better job finding them.  The girls even hid the eggs a second time for Aaron.  This time, though, they had to hide them really hard because "he is really old."

He definitely heard about that and they got tickled for that comment.  This picture is a good one to show how the girls love playing with their cousin-in-law.  Their smiles sure are big!

Although I do not think that pictures do any home justice, many of my family members have stopped by to check out the new nest, I am posting some anyway for my family members who may have to wait to come check it out.

Our living room, including our new couch and my hubby's new toy (the big HD tv).

My beautiful kitchen.  I love all the space for my kitchenware.  Some of these items were gifts from the wedding that couldn't fit into our Chicago apartment, so I re-discovered some truly beautiful and useful gadgets.  

And the downstairs bathroom.  We feel so lucky every morning when we wake up and realize that this is our home.  Thanks to the Lord for this blessing and all the others in our lives.

The royal wedding is tomorrow and I am sure some of you are going to watch it.  Thanks to our AT&T U-verse I am avoiding getting up super early and am recording it to watch later in the afternoon.  It should be very exciting and bring some tears and memories of my wedding.  It will be a true fairytale wedding.  Speaking of weddings, I am looking forward to myself and Aaron's 1 Year anniversary, coming up in June, and the many weddings we will be attending this year.  Love...ain't it beautiful!

he has risen!

Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;

Death is strong, but Life is stronger;

Stronger than the dark, the light;

Stronger than the wrong, the right...

~Phillips Brooks, "An Easter Carol"

I apologize for the lack of blogging, BUT we have been preparing for our move...which is happening tomorrow and Saturday!  We are excited and I promise there will be a lengthy blog with some pictures once we are settled.


I wanted to take a second to say Happy Easter!  Alleluia!  Thanks be to God for sending us his Son who died for us!  Have a great day, enjoy your Easter egg hunts and family time!

standing here, it's oh so clear, this is where I'm meant to be

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.  ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Well ladies and gents, we have found a beautiful new home!  Aaron and I are moving to New Town St. Charles April 23rd!  We are ecstatic and cannot wait to make it our own.

It is so funny because we looked in New Town when we first moved here and thought it was a little creepy.  It is a planned community and does look a little "Pleasantville"-esque, BUT after meeting Connie, the property manager, and finding out how fabulous the community aspect of New Town is we are SUPER excited to be part of it.  Not only that, but making friends with our neighbors and fellow new-towners will be a snap.  I am excited to be a "home-maker" and create a home for myself and my wonderful husband.  Not to mention the fact that this will be the home into which we welcome our pup.

That's the back of our soon-to-be home.  See our cute patio...my hubby may be getting an early birthday present that would make that patio look a little manlier.

Both times we have seen the townhome I have felt so at home and very relaxed.  It is the perfect place for Aaron and I.  It is beautiful:)

Not to mention, the counter space and the cabinets in the kitchen.  I am in LOVE with the kitchen.  Can't wait to get all my wedding dishes and appliances out and start cookin'!

There is even a romantic Juliet balcony in the Master Bedroom overlooking the courtyard.

Aaron has conceded all decorating rights to me (with his approval of course, isn't he a sweet husband) and I am excited to get started.  I feel very blessed that when it's the right time, God always provides amazing things for me.  A new car, a new house, and (most importantly) my amazing Mister.  So lucky!

Right after we signed on our soon-to-be new home, we spent the weekend at Tiff and Kevin's house in St. Louis.  Aaron had to work a Better Life tradeshow at Costco all weekend so I got to play house with Tiff and the girls.  It was so much FUN and we are very thankful for our wonderful cousins and that they let us stay with them:)

The weekend started out with Rachel's birthday celebration (this one on her actual birthday), where we were treated with a homemade butterfly cake compliments of Nanny T, Kev's mom.

Ally was very excited about eating it, even before Rachel blew out the candles.  She is pointing to the exact piece she would like to eat.

Rachel was definitely the birthday princess, including a little bit of drama.  BUT, Rachel's drama is only for effect.  She and Ally are two of the most well-behaved kids I know.

Bet you never woulda guessed these two gents would be sitting together talking Better Life...

It was a relaxing, wonderful weekend and we both enjoyed spending time with our cousins.  I will let you in on some Tibbs family news:  They have welcomed four new members into their family.  

Four new chickens to be exact.  They are very silly and Kevin is in LOVE with them.  He built them a perfect house and is keeping busy making sure they stay happy and healthy.  Rachel and Ally love showing them off to the neighborhood kids and Tiff just tries to keep their mess outside of the house.  Fresh eggs every day sound good to me.

Move-in day is rapidly approaching and we are getting antsy!

We have been looking at some new furniture and planning out the move-in day.  Neither of us can wait to get settled in and puppy-proof the house so we can welcome our pup into the family.

Everyone have a fantastic weekend and enjoy this beautiful weather.  I certainly can't wait to enjoy some beautiful weather in our new home:)